INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.- The second-ranked Southwest Minnesota State University women's volleyball team came in at No. 1 in the first NCAA Division II Central Region rankings that were announced on Wednesday afternoon by the NCAA national committee.

SMSU (22-2, 14-2 NSIC) are currently in a tie for second place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings and are coming off of a 3-1 home victory over the University of Sioux Falls this Tuesday night.

Southwest Minnesota State tops the rankings with a 15-2 record against Central Region opponents. SMSU is one of six NSIC schools to make it into the first Central Region rankings of the year.

Concordia-St. Paul (21-2) came in at No. 2 while Northern State (20-3) and Minnesota Duluth (19-4) were ranked No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. Winona State (16-7) is the seventh ranked team in the first region rankings of the year while Augustana (18-7) rounded out this week's rankings at No. 10.

The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA region tournament on Nov. 30- Dec. 2. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, Great American Conference (GAC) and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis.

The NCAA Volleyball selection show will be streamed online on Monday, Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.

SMSU can clinch a first-round home match in the NSIC Tournament with a pair of wins this weekend. The Mustangs will travel to play No. 9 Minnesota Duluth on Friday night at 6 p.m., followed by their final road NSIC match of the regular season at St. Cloud State on Saturday at 2 p.m.


                    NCAA Central Region Rankings (Nov. 1)

Rank	Team	Region Record	Overall Record
1	Southwest Minnesota State	15-2	21-2
2	Concordia-St. Paul	14-2	21-2
3	Nebraska-Kearney	25-1	25-2
4	Northern State	19-3	20-3
5	Minnesota Duluth	16-3	19-4
6	Central Oklahoma	25-3	25-3
7	Winona State	12-5	16-7
8	Arkansas Tech	22-0	23-0
9	Central Missouri	17-6	20-7
10	Augustana	16-7	18-7